Today’s Motto: ‘What we sow in spring, we reap in autumn.
As Every Day makes a new beginning in life, it brings new opportunities, opens new avenues, to perform and make a mark, to write a Page in History Books!
This is Your Day-TODAY: Take a Determined Step Forward and Make History !
On this day, Feb. 01………
1835 – The East India Company obtained Darjeeling from the King of Sikkim. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was built between 1879-81 from Japaigudi, a 2 feet wide narrow guage line. Its loop became a big tourist attraction for all. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. 1881 – St. Stephen’s College was founded in Delhi
1884 – The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.
1851 – The submarine, Le Plongeur-Marin was tested in Kiel Harbour, but it suffered leaks and sank 50 feet.
1851 – Evaporated milk was invented by Gail Borden.
1911 – Thomas Jennings was found guilty with the first use of fingerprint evidence in the U.S. Upon appeal, the Illionis Supreme Court ruled the evidence was admi
ssible. 1964 – Unit Trust of India (UTI), the major financial institution was established. It Unit-64 (US-64) became a big investment savings option for middle class but it went bad losing option due to mismanagement of funds in the mid-90s and despite several rescue efforts it was finally closed on May 31, 2003.
1972 – The first scientific hand-held calculator was introduced for $395 by Hewlett- Packard, named the HP-35 for having 35 keys. (It was the first hand-held calculator able to perform logarithmic and trigonometric functions with one keystroke).
1977 – The National Rail Museum in New Delhi, which showcases the heritage of train transpo
rt in India, was inaugurated. It hpuses rare and old railway saloons used by Kings and Queens viz., the Prince of Wales Saloon, the Maharaja of Mysore’s Saloon, Maharaja of Baroda’s Saloon, thye Patiala State Monorail. It offers short journeys for children and tourists. The Palace on Wheels, a short train of Imperial Luxury coaches used to travel from Delhi to Rajasthan and other important tourist destinations earlier.
1977 – The Indian Coast Guard was established. It is a big maritime law enforcement, search and rescue agency for India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone to safeguard over 7,500 km long Indian shores.
1984 – Ravindra Hareshwar Mhatre, an Indian diplomat in UK who was kidnapped and later
murdered in Birmingham by British Kashmiri militants. The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front claimed responsibility and demanded a ransom of 1 million pounds and the release of militant prisoned in India.
1985 – Muhammad Azharuddin created a world record at Kanpur by hitting a century in each of his first three tests. 
He went on to captain India later and also joined politics.
1994 – India’s largest oil exploring a processing company, ONGC becomes a Public Limited Company. It now has several projects worldwide under ONGC Videsh Ltd.
2004 – 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. 2009 – Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza made history by winning t
he mixed doubles title at the Australian Open together for the first time. Together they won several tournaments and individually also excelled the world tennis arena.
2012 – At least 73 people are killed in the Egyptian football riots in Port Said.
2018 – Archaeologists announce discovery of thousands of undetected structures in Mayan lowland civilisation, Guatemala, using Lidar, suggests population of 10 million.
2021 – Military stage a coup in Myanmar, detaining civilian leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi and declared a state of emergency. She is the daughter of Aung San, a revolutionary leader of B
urma. She was elected State Counsellor of Burma, has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1991
Born…. 1889 – Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, princess of Kapoorthala, an eminent social worker, freedom fighter and political leader, was born a princess in the royal family of King Harman Singh of Kapoorthala. She assisted Gandhi for 18 years and was connected with World Health Organisation and 
Red Cross Society. She was the first Health Minister of India and is credited with setting-up the first AIIMS in Delhi.
1958 – Jackie Shroff, (Jaikishen Kakubhai) model, environment activist and Bollywood actor, started his career with blockbusters Swami Dada and Hero in 1982-83 and went on to act in over 250 films in 4 decades. His successful films Andar Bahar, Yudh, Teri Meharbaniyan, Karma, Shiv Ka Insaf, Parinda, Khalnayak, A Love Story, Border, Rangeela etc. He won 4 Filmfare, Raj Kapoor award and several other accolades (pic credit-IMDb).
1971 – Ajay Jadeja, a scion of Jamnagar royal family, former Indian cricketer, aggressive batsman, medium pace bowler and expert fielder. He played in 15 Tests and 192 ODIs and in IPL for Rajasthan Royals. He was embroiled in a match-fixing allegations, banned for some years but later cleared of
charges.
1971 – Manoj Tiwari, Varanasi born Bhojpuri model, singer, film and TV actor, and a 3-time BJP Parliamentarian from Delhi. He was also Delhi state BJP president for some years in 2017.
RIP…. 1666 – Shah Jahan, 5th Mughal emperor who ruled from 1928-58, was an avid lover, poet and a bit secular adminstrator. He had 9 wisemen in his Royal Court, called Navratan. He loved Mum
taz and married her, built Taj Mahal in Agra in her memory after her death. He’s also believed to have built Red Fort and shifted his capital from Agra to Delhi.
1992 – Mohan Choty, a very popular comedy film actor of 1940s to 70s. He acted in about 300 films like Bhai Bhai, Jagriti, Devdas, Ham Panchhi Ek Daal Ke, Ziddi, Aadmi etc. He won many awards and accolades for comedy. 2003 – Kalpana Chawla. Karnal, India-born American astronaut who studied in Dayal Sigh College, Delhi and Punjab Engg. College before migrating to the United States in 1990s. She flew in the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 and 2003. She died while returing to the earth alongwith 
7 other astronauts, when their shuttle disintegrated in the sky.
You may have known…. 1. Indian astronomer Bhaskaracharya (1114 – 1185 A.D.) rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days. He lived in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) , wrote Siddhant Shiromani and set-up a Cosmic Observatory in (Madhya Pradesh) 2. History of Industry in India dates back to the history of mankind. India’s handicrafts manufactured in village huts and houses all over the country were prized in foreign countries. India today manufactures about Rs. 65,746 crores worth of handicrafts annually and exported over Rs. 32,758 crores worth of handicrafts products in 2024. 
{Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R) Raj Kadyan}
